Saturday, April 02, 2011

Long time no sea....

This wile coyote made his presence known long enough for a few camera snaps, while the rest of his pack slunk away into the forest...

Unfortunately, on our most fortunate of hikes our camera batteries decided to call it quits. At least the cell phone back-up allowed us to capture proof of the moose as well as mountain lion tracks we followed ~ 1/2 mile down the trail.

Emerald lake was blistery cold but worth the snowshoe to see such grand peaks up-close, even if for just a few minutes...

A little finch watched as we left the mainland for the rainbow state in early March...

We went from temperature extremes of -30°F to 80°F in less than two weeks!

It wouldn't be a Ben and Carrie Tracks post without a sunset picture now would it?

Safe to say we've had a fair helping of snorkeling all around the island....the green sea turtle shots above were taken in Shark's Cove along the North shore.

Our journey begins this weekend for the NW Hawaiian Islands (see post below)... and while we have enjoyed our time in Oahu, we have no qualms at all about leaving civilization and the hustle and bustle of Waikiki shown in the picture above.

Oh, so delightful, and what a treat to have you all "back." Woo-hoo! =) Been to that turtle-y part of Oahu--pretty cool to be floating toward a stretch of beach to get out of the water and realize you can't 'cause it's occupied by a turtle. NICE. Great wintry pics, too. =)

Hi, you guys are so cool. I enjoy seeing pictures and reading stories from all your tracks. I wish I'd be brave enough to ramble as much as you guys do :)Keep doing so, there are people you made happy by your adventures.

As of now I am tracking your treks! I saw Ben's photos from Antarctica and wondered what had taken him to the end of the world; I'd heard Carrie was on her way to Hong Kong and pondered what awaited her halfway around the the earth. So I just came right to your blog to find out...but it's not been updated yet. I sit in suspense. To pass the time on the edge of my seat, I read your blog in Russian. My translations often make me laugh so hard I fall off my seat onto the floor, "OW", I say (it comes out the same in English or Russian). I find that knowing you both helps a good deal as I try to decipher your liberal use of idioms. Some overlay of language roots turn your "tracks" into "treks", as in star. There are also modern Russian words that phonetically lift the English into the Cyrillic alphabet. Those tools help augment my limited vocabulary and rusty grammar. When I hover the mouse over text (or the "owl's beak" as it was in mid-12th century eastern Kamchatkan) the English translation appears. But what fun is that? Because I often find that when I take a guess at the idiom, Ben and Carrie are playing chess with otters at sunset!

I read this article and found a quote at the end of it from a media spokesperson from 350.org. Please don't consider this a political post; I'm posting in the interest of science. Here's the article: Climate Makes a Late Appearance in Presidential Race As Bloomberg Endorses Obamaby Meghna Sachdev on 1 November 2012, 5:43 PM

Surprise endorser. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is backing a second term for President Barack Obama, citing concerns about climate change.Credit: Rubenstein/Wikimedia CommonsDespite considerable pressure from the scientific community and advocacy groups, climate change never made it into the U.S. presidential debates. Now, in the waning days of the campaign, the issue may finally make it out from under the radar given Mayor of New York Michael R. Bloomberg's unexpected endorsement of Barack Obama today.

Bloomberg has been critical of both President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney, and until now has resisted efforts from both campaigns to secure his endorsement. However, it seems that the recent devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy across the Eastern Seaboard has changed his mind.

In an editorial published on his own site and on Bloomberg View, the mayor made his concerns clear. "Our climate is changing," he wrote. "And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be—given this week's devastation—should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action."

That action, according to Bloomberg, will be best taken by Barack Obama, whose efforts over the past 4 years to curb carbon consumption and mercury emissions he lauds. Obama's positions on education, abortion and same-sex marriage also played a role in his endorsement, Bloomberg writes.

Live Chat: What Will the U.S. Election Mean for Science? Thursday 3 p.m. EDTThe mayor has some blunt criticism for both candidates, however. He writes that Mitt Romney "has a history of tackling climate change. As governor of Massachusetts, he signed on to a regional cap- and-trade plan designed to reduce carbon emissions 10 percent below 1990 levels." But Romney "has reversed course, abandoning the very cap-and-trade program he once supported." He also notes that Romney "in the past … has also taken sensible positions on immigration, illegal guns, abortion rights and health care. But he has reversed course on all of them."

As for Obama, Bloomberg writes that he has "found the past four years to be, in a word, disappointing." Obama "ran as a pragmatic problem-solver and consensus-builder," he writes, but has since "engaged in partisan attacks and has embraced a divisive populist agenda focused more on redistributing income than creating it."

Those that tried so hard get the candidates to address climate change are glad that at least some attention is finally being given to the issue. "It's just unfortunate that it took a hurricane for politicians to wake up to the fact that climate change is here," Daniel Kessler, media campaigner for 350.org, a climate advocacy group, told ScienceInsider. "And it's only going to get worse if we don't take action."

See more coverage on science and the U.S. 2012 elections.

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From Birds of the Peruvian Amazon to Mexican Grey wolves to Moose of the Teton Wilderness to Adirondack Pine Martens to Coastal Oregon Spotted owls to NW Hawaiian Monk Seals.... What wildlife are we working with now and where in the world will we be in 6 months? We are often asking ourselves the same questions. So, in a grand effort to keep in touch, you have before you this site...which allows you and the masses to track us